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[TRAFFIC INFO]
Here are the traffic forecasts for the weekend of February 17 and 18, 2018.

In the direction of arrivals at stations:
– On the RN 90 in Tarentaise, Saturday is expected about 35,000 vehicles between Albertville and Moûtiers. This traffic could cause slowdowns requiring the activation of regulation at Aigueblanche from mid-morning. On the VRU Chambéry, the traffic should be dense in the course of the afternoon.
– For the day of Sunday, the traffic of the accesses to the stations is estimated at 17 000 vehicles.

In the sense of the returns of stations:
– On the RN 90 in Tarentaise, Saturday is expected about 30,000 vehicles between Moûtiers and Albertville. This traffic could lead to slowdowns between Bourg-Saint-Maurice and Moûtiers in the late morning with regulatory measures at the entrance to the Siaix tunnel.
On the VRU Chambéry, it is likely that slowdowns are set up between the Ravoire and access to the A43 motorway towards Lyon in the late morning and early afternoon.
– For Sunday, traffic is estimated at 20,000 vehicles.

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Festival International d’Art Pyrotechnique [FIAP 2018]

The International Fireworks Festival kicks off in Courchevel 1650 Moriond tonight (15/2/18) at 19:00 and comes to La Tania for the first time ever on Wednesday 7th March 2018. A truly spectacular event not to be missed!

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The big one…. On Saturday 38,000 vehicles between Albertville and Moûtiers. Could be some snow about on Sunday too – Good Luck Everyone!

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[TRAFFIC INFO]
In the direction of the arrivals in station:
On the RN 90 in Tarentaise, Saturday is expected about 38,000 vehicles between Albertville and Moûtiers. This traffic could cause slowdowns requiring the activation of regulation at Aigueblanche from mid-morning until the end of the day. On the VRU Chambéry, the traffic should be dense in the course of the afternoon.
For the day of Sunday, the traffic of the accesses to the stations is estimated at 20 000 vehicles.

In the sense of the returns of stations:
On the RN 90 in Tarentaise, it is expected Saturday about 26 000 vehicles between Moûtiers and Albertville. This traffic could lead to slowdowns between Bourg-Saint-Maurice and Moûtiers in the morning with regulation measures at the entrance of the Siaix tunnel. On the VRU Chambery, it is possible that slowdowns are put in place before the access to the A43 motorway towards Lyon in the late morning and early afternoon.
For Sunday, traffic is estimated at 18,000 vehicles.

Unfortunately Col was closed so they did the Grand Fond twice to compensate (actually SC cocked up thinking he was going in to Orelle and went back in to VT to the disgust of his partners!). As they did not know the off piste route from Masse 2 to Plan De L’eau and sensibly did not try it on their own they used the 2014 route.

They completed the route, but by the time they got back to Le Praz, Foret was closed – not realising it closed so early (second school boy error of the day). Was 16:25 but closes at 16:50 from 10 February 2018.

Stephen attempted it on his own in 2014, but made two mistakes and by the time he got to Tovets it was just closed.

In 2015 with two friends they made a critical wrong turning (not his mistake this time) and failed miserably.

Still an achievement of someone who just turned 59 on Thursday, with over 60 miles skiing and having to ski down a mogul packed Combe Du Vallon with muscles completely burnt out.

SC was not planning to try and ski it this year, but the conditions were perfect so had to try – he says it’s his last attempt… But even more of Sandiway Ski Club coming next year – someone needs to show them the route!

What’s This All About?

The 3 Valleys Escapade was the lift company promotion of visiting (originally in 2006) 14 points across the Three Valleys and gaining a certificate & badge over the period of your holiday – then we had the idea of doing it in a day…

It’s probably the toughest day skiing ever for a recreational skier but lots of people have got involved over the years so we featured them in our Escapade in a Day Hall of Fame

It is looking like this is no longer being promoted by The 3 Valleys for Winter 2018 – even though the Escapade lift points are marked on the 3 Valleys FatMap for 2018 linked from the S3V and Courchevel web sites. We’ll still stick you in the Hall of Fame if you complete it though…

Originally punch cards had to be stamped at each check point until electronic passes arrived – they could then be checked by the lift company. The original Escapade was 30 lifts, 13000m vertical and 70km and 2016 peaked with 34 lifts, 17000m vertical (twice the height of Everest) and around 100km total distance. It became a little less for 2017 and 2018 sees the use of Roc de Tougne fast new lift instead of the drag – still a big, big day out though with all talking (and lunch) kept to the lifts…

For an easier 3 Valleys Day Challenge try the Selfies in a Day (note that Signal machine is at the top of Biollay and the Plan des Mains unit is at the top of the chair for 2018).

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So after owning an apartment in La Tania for nearly 20 years a group of mates decide they want to go on a Chalet Holiday…

There was even the risk it may not have been to La Tania so I had to bite the bullet and get organising (and at least rent my place out while I went on “holiday” to La Tania).

I remember my first Chalet Holiday somewhere near Arabba on the Sella Ronda circuit in Italy, 8 twin rooms, one chalet girl, one bathroom and a 25 litre wine box – the classic “Chalet Wine”!

All were couples and no one knew anyone else, but as this was before mobile phones, tablets and social media, conversations used to happen, and yes we all probably did lie about what we did in the UK…

And my last Chalet Holiday was care of Icicles in La Tania, just opposite Hotel Telemark (half built and named Chalet du Sud back then). Ian and Ronnie weren’t the typical chalet hosts, they were semi-retired, most of their guests were (or became) friends and their son TC was our Ski Guide (it was allowed back then). They became a major part of the La Tania community for many years and are now fully retired to the South of France.

So after all this time in an apartment how would I cope with my preconceptions of what I thought would be fixed meal times, limited choices, bossy & uninterested staff, more rules, restrictions and the inevitable discussion about cost?

I have to admit I was very wrong – the whole holiday was first class, a fantastic chalet, the customer really was put first, the staff couldn’t be more attentive & flexible, and the food was amazing.

When you consider the quality cooked breakfast, Nespresso, beers & specially selected wines on tap, the afternoon tea & home made cakes, the canapés and nibbles, a quality 3 course dinner then cheese & biscuits and a bottle of Port each night, it actually is very good value.

The pre-holiday Concierge service blew me away with the way things can be organised – the group leader no longer needs to chase money, sort out who’s having lessons, what passes are needed etc etc. All was done on-line and in a controlled way, managed centrally with visibility to everyone so we all knew what was going on.

Then on arrival we were told – “this is your place for the next week, we’re just here to help you enjoy your holiday” – and they did. Richard, our extremely talented, very entertaining chef from Oldham and the lovely Anna from Poland looked after us very well, making me realise the importance of good staff – they make or break everyone’s holiday.

So 20 years on we had boot warmers, a heated ski room, in-resort drivers (they even picked us up from a Peupliers Vin Chaud Après session in Le Praz), an outdoor hot tub of course, dressing gowns and slippers, designer toiletries, decent WiFi, UK TV and even a selection of mobile phone chargers in your room in case you’d forgotten yours!

So yes, we didn’t make it down to the Ski Lodge every night after dinner – but we did make up for it at Après Ski, and the staff were very flexible about dinner times and what we wanted – we even had a curry night on my Birthday which was perfect.

Sitting down to dinner with a group of your best friends and then lazing in front of a log fire with a few drinks really is a great way to finish a day’s skiing.

How do I persuade my wife to stay in the apartment for a week now?

We were guests of Alpine Escape in January 2018.
Many thanks to Jo & Neil, Scott, Richard, Anna and all their excellent staff.

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While we’ve always loved the Luge run from 1850 to 1550 (and a bargain for things to do in 1850) this new 3km track from the top of the new Ariondaz Gondola down to Courchevel 1650 Moriond is a real step up. It’s 3km long with 450m of vertical drop, 8 tunnels and 6 hairpins.

The mix of fun, fear, screams and laughter (especially at the end) makes it a “must do” every season now…

If only it didn’t start so steep and with tight bends you could get a feel for the braking system and turning before you really had to! All adds up to the mess at the start…

Currently open from 11:00 to 16:00 every day (probably will be until 16:30 when the lifts open longer from 3rd February 2018) and from 17:00 to 19:30 on Tuesday and Thursday evenings as it is floodlit too.

Sledges are picked up from the top Gondola station and it costs €15 a go – if there’s 4 or more of you it’s €11 each (or one person descending 4 or more times would be €11 a go).

Helmets are compulsory and available with your sledge at no extra charge. A sterile hair net is provided which is a nice touch too.

If you’re a serious competitor then perhaps best not to do it in Ski Boots (it’s quite hard to loop both feet in the straps when wearing ski boots) but it’s perfectly possible as we found out a couple of weeks ago… Great fun and no injuries despite the crashes – lots of padding in all the right places!

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Unprecedented snowfall this season so far (average snowfall for a whole season fell before the middle of January) but finally a decent break in the weather is forecast from Tuesday next week.

Looking like another difficult transfer weekend with heavy snow especially on Saturday afternoon and special equipment (chains / snow tyres) likely to be mandatory to get to resort, so be prepared (and practice putting those chains on – they’re bound to be a different type of fitting to the last time you tried!).

Should be epic when the weather does clear up and the mountain is secured. Currently off piste Avalanche Risk is 4 out of 5 (HIGH RISK) right across the Savoie at all levels on all aspects. THINK

Comments

The 3 Valleys Escapade was the lift company promotion of visiting (originally in 2006) 14 points across the Three Valleys and gaining a certificate & badge over the period of your holiday – then we had the idea of doing it in a day… Probably the toughest day skiing ever for any recreational skier but lots of people have got involved over the years so we featured them in our Escapade in a Day Hall of Fame

It is looking like this is no longer being promoted by The 3 Valleys for Winter 2018 – even though the Escapade lift points are marked on the 3 Valleys FatMap for 2018 linked from the S3V and Courchevel web sites. We’ll still stick you in the Hall of Fame if you complete it though and congratulations to Mike & Scott “The Engineers” who are the first we know to complete it this Winter. You’ll be in the 2018 Hall of Fame soon!

Originally punch cards had to be stamped at each check point until electronic passes arrived – they could then be checked by the lift company. The original Escapade was 30 lifts, 13000m vertical and 70km and 2016 peaked with 34 lifts, 17000m vertical and 100km (twice the height of Everest). It became a little less for 2017 and 2018 see the use of Roc de Tougne new lift instead of the drag – still a big, big day out though with lunch on the lift…

For an easier 3 Valleys Day Challenge try the Selfies in a Day (note that Signal machine is at the top of Biollay and the Plan des Mains unit is at the top of the chair for 2018).

PS. You do this entirely at your own risk, act responsibly, take full ownership for your own actions and all of those with you, respect other people (& the mountain), ride within your limits, always obey the skiers & snowboarders code, observe all signs, pay attention to all notices & advice from Pisteurs, only ski off piste if fully equipped & knowledgeable, it’s not a race (you won’t be insured), but above all, take care, don’t wreck things for others & don’t even think of blaming anyone else if it all goes horribly wrong…..